The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Cell Phone And Social Media In Healthcare

Following with the scenario mentioned above, the nurse on shift that night did decide to send pictures of the lead singer from “Blue Lizards” in the hospital to her best friend thinking she would be the only one to see it. Well little did she know that somehow the towns leading gossip magazine the Gossip Gazette got ahold of her, on her friends behalf, offering her a nice chunk of change in exchange for her name to be kept private and the photos of Jerod. She really needed the money so since no one would know it was her how could it hurt right? The nurse came into work her next shift to the hospital under full investigation related to the HIPAA violation that was taken place on her previous night working. After hearing the news, she began to frantically look for her smart phone in order to delete the evidence, that is when she realized it was missing. Was buying a new car and paying some bills really worth putting your nursing license on the line?

165). The HIPAA regulations are set as a protection of Personal Health Information (PHI) and all of its areas of concern, i.e. – name, condition, symptoms, etc… Legally, the nurse is not subjected to any clearly defined healthcare related laws, at the federal level, liable under the Privacy Acts of 1974 which protects any personal identification records or information relating to the patient’s privacy. The nurse takes photographs of the patient’s demographic information from his electronic health record which violates the regulations set forth by the Privacy Acts of 1974 (Privacy Act of 1974, n.d.). In many aspects of this scenario, a major concern lies on the nurse’s ethical, unethical, practice. The American Nurses Association (ANA) delineates in Provision Three of the Code of Ethics for Nurses “The nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and safety of the patient.” (ANA, 2015). The nurse is in many violations enough to end their career in this situation. The privacy of the patient is a right not a privilege. With the increase usage of social media, this invasion of privacy on the patient could potentially be leaked and could lead to jeopardizing the patient’s safety while in the hospital.

Communication has been permanently changed by social media. A wide conceptual definition of social media, as cited in Ressler & Glazer (2010), is “The online and mobile accessible services that enable individuals to connect, collaborate, and share with others in real time.” Social media has an obvious influence on informal communication style and represents both possibility and liability for healthcare institutions. As cited in Bernhardt, Alber, & Gold (2014), “Social media provide healthcare professionals with tools to share information, to debate health care policy and practice issues, to promote health behaviors, to engage with the public, and to educate and interact with patients, caregivers, students, and colleagues.” It also presents challenges, including risks to information accuracy, organizational reputation, and individual privacy. Social media can be a very helpful in communicating among nurses and other healthcare providers while creating professional connections, and sharing experiences, but guidelines for appropriate use by healthcare providers are essential. Whether or not certain healthcare organization decides to use social media as a communications tool - social media policy still need to be implemented. Policies help establish an organization 's rules and expectations around social media.

Gill P.S., Kamath A., & Gill T.S. (2012). Distraction: an assessment of smartphone usage in health care work settings. Risk Manage Healthcare Policy 5(9), 105–114. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S34813

In the scenario discussed the nurse working makes numerous decisions that put both her and her patient at risk. She violates the patient’s privacy not only by taking pictures of him while unconscious, but also by sending them to her friend as well as taking pictures of the patient’s demographics. According to the HIPAA standards, any unauthorized disclosure of private patient information, is a breach of the Privacy Rule (HHS, n.d). It would be a completely different story if the nurse were to have asked the patient once he had recovered if she could take a picture and had gotten his authorization. However, that is not the case and the nurse, if caught, could face penalties. Not only is the nurse violating the patient’s privacy, she is also violating

In the present culture of the United States, social media has had a major impact in American society. It has a profound influence and intertwined itself in almost every aspect of the average American’s life. It ranges from providing updates of location of a person(s), events, and sharing personal moments. Even different industries are utilizing social media as a platform for communication, information, and sales mediums. One industry, the health care field has seen a rise in the utilization of social media. For instance, an emerging population of physicians are using social media apps such as Snap Chat, Facebook, and YouTube to educate, display surgical, and medical procedures while being performed. In contrast, as there are positive aspects of utilizing social media, a negative trait of social media is invading and exposing individual’s privacy. As of recent, a New York licensed nurse had to surrender her nursing license and sentenced to 3 years of probation for “moral unfitness in the practice (Bowerman, 2016).” She took photos with her phone of two unconscious male patient’s genitalia and shared them with coworkers. This has become an increasing issue and as the utilization of social media in healthcare is increasing, many ethical issues are developing. For instance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was passed for the adoption of a national standard for electronic health care transactions and code sets, unique health identifiers,

The nurse in this scenario missed the concert she was eager to go because she had to work. Instead of providing focused care for her ill patients, she was fixated on her friends, who texting her from the concert. After realizing her newly admitted patient turned out to be the lead singer in the concert she missed, she failed to listen to the patient status report and neglected providing the care he needed. The nurse violated the patient’s privacy by taking inappropriate pictures of him while he was unconscious. She spent her day off bragging on her

When a HIPAA violation has taken place it is important that the person who discovers/discloses the unauthorized information immediately report to their supervisor so that they can contain the breach. The nurse in this case did not handle the case properly. There are four steps to follow through when PHI are accidentally disclosed: 1) contain the breach 2) pre-notify 3) notify 4) investigate and remedial action (Kwiatkowski, 2013). In this case, the nurse knew that she made a mistake by disclosing the young girl’s name and asked that her daughter not share the information with anybody else, but she failed to do so and the rumor quickly spread through four high schools. Therefore, the breach was not contained and further actions needed to take place. The nurse should have called her supervisor about the situation immediately so that an immediate investigation is

As you may know social media and texting have become a part of life and we often think of it as for friends, family, and net-working, but what about doctors and nurses using their phones to text or take pictures of your vital information. How are we as consumers protected? Let’s see what HIPAA has to say about doctors and nurses using phones to text, take a picture, or use the social media to transfer information.

Linking this information to our conclusion scenario, we can clearly identify that the attending nurse was in absolute violation of HIPAA’s Privacy Rule; posting such photos on an unprotected social media website without any permission of the attending party (patient) in such condition and within the environment of the attending medical facility was with direct

I agree with you that social media plays a big role in our lives. People use Instagram, twitter, snapchat, and Facebook to post pictures or tweets. In the hospital this prohibited. When you take a picture of the patient as Sabina gives the example of the patient with cancer you are being unethical because you aren’t respecting the patient’s privacy thus hurting the patient and nurse relationship. The patient has faith that the nurse is there to help the patient and not cause harm, but by putting them on social media their privacy is being shared with everyone in social media. According to the nursing, “6 tips to avoid problems: remember that standards of professionalism are the same online as in any other circumstance, do not share or post information or photos gained through the nurse-patient relationship, maintain professional boundaries in the use of electronic media. Online contact with patients blurs this boundary, do not make disparaging remarks about patients, employers, or co-workers, even if they are not identified, do not take photos or videos of patients on personal devices, including cell phones, and promptly report a breach of confidentiality or privacy” (www.nursingworld.org).

With the advancement of modern technology, social media is increasingly finding use in healthcare delivery and management. Health professionals including doctors, nurses and therapists have adopted social media to communicate with their patients and for health sensitization. Social media can benefit healthcare delivery in a variety of ways including fostering professional connections, patient and community education and promoting communication with patients and families. On the other hand, use of social media in healthcare exposes patients’ data to breaches and leakages creating confidentiality issues. Misuse of patient data results in serious career penalties for negligent medical professionals. Protocols have been established to oversee the use of social medial by health practitioners. The paper seeks to explore the recognized rules that regulate the use of social media, and its risks and benefits. Health professionals should utilize benefits of social media while adhering to confidentiality, privacy, and ethical guidelines for private or professional communications with respect to patient data.

Nancy Spector, whom holds a PhD, RN titles from the University of Wisconsin, distinguishes that most patient privacy violations are due to nurses not taking the time to think before posting and inadvertently putting the patient’s info out for persons not admitted to see it. Spector states “The quick and efficient technology enabling use of social media reduces not only the time it takes to post, but also the time to consider whether the post is appropriate and what ramifications may come from posting inappropriate content.” Nurses should be able to use social media to help further their relationships with patients and co-workers, with the healthy understanding of how to do so wisely.

As we know that HIPAA complaints are increasing as the use of technology is increasing in United States. Mobile devices are helpful when it comes to work. However, it all depend who is going to use it and in which way. It can be used to help the patient by and it can also exploit the patient. For example, before administering a drug nurses can use smartphone to know about a drug side effects and indication which is new in the market. On the other hand, nurse can take picture of the patient and patient’s information which looks “cool” according to the nurse and exposed patient information for her/his personal interest. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, the complaint of HIPAA violation has reached 12,915 in 2013. This number is dramatically increasing every year. ("Health Information Privacy Complaints Received by Calendar Year," n.d.). As health care professionals this is our responsibility to make our organization HIPAA compliant. Even though an individual working in health care can HIPAA proof his/her devices by following the guideline provided by HIPAA and healthit.gov. ("Mobile Health Security: HealthIT.gov," n.d.)

“Social media have invaded health care from at least three fronts: innovative startups, patient communities and medical centers” (John Sharp 2010). The Social Media arena helps the health care system for their planning strategy and their marketing. However, their use is very controversial. There is a discussion about the use of social media in the healthcare settings due to its vulnerability. Even though social media is important for the healthcare development, the security issues will remain big concerns for the healthcare system.